At half past seven both James and Peter had joined the party and Sirius was cooking them some stakes.
"You'd better do Moony's last, considering he barely wants it to touch the pan," James laughed, giving Remus a pat on the back before sitting down at the kitchen table.
Sirius grinned over his shoulder at Remus as he was standing in front of the stove;
"Would you prefer it raw, Remus? Should I even bother to put it in?"
"Ever the connoisseurs, you two, even when it comes to food for werewolves." Remus raised a teasing eyebrow at his friends. "But, honestly yeah, you're right. Just salt it and 30 seconds a side, tops. Hold the garlic, please."
"What? I thought garlic was just a vampire thing?" Peter asked, looking up from the tomatoes he'd been dicing. "Is it true that werewolves can't have garlic?"
"Yes, it's true," James answered just as Sirius at the same time said, "No, garlic doesn't have any effect on werewolves."
This contradictory information had Peter looking between them, confused, and Sirius and James stared at each other. Remus, who stood beside Sirius by the sink, paused the potato peeling he'd been engaged in to listen in to what no doubt had the potential to become a rather entertaining argument.
"So… " Peter turned to Remus for clarification when none seemed to come from the two who'd first answered. "Which one of them is right?"
"Are you out of your mind, Prongs?" Sirius asked, before Remus could answer Peter. "Peter is right; garlic is a vampire thing, but it has no effect on werewolves. There's been countless studies on this."
"Of course it has an effect!" James argued. "The wolves' metabolism lacks the enzymes to break down garlic, so it's poisonous to them, and the same is true for werewolves. Naturally a garlic couldn't be used to ward off a werewolf, like it could a vampire. It's just a diet-thing."
"First of all, it is not true for werewolves just because it's true for wolves as their anatomy and biology are still different. And second of all, let's say you're right for argument's sake; wouldn't the garlic intolerance only be true for a transformed werewolf, then, if it's caused by the werewolf's metabolism?" Sirius arched a challenging eyebrow at his mate.
James rolled his eyes,
"Well, the transformation is about to happen in a few hours and the garlic would still be in Remus's system if he ate it now."
"Sure, what you're saying sounds like it could be true, in theory, but you're still wrong, Prongs," Sirius smirked, turning back to the stove and flipping their stakes. "The fact remains that the properties of wolves and werewolves are completely different and garlic doesn't affect werewolves."
"Alright then, genius," James leaned back in his chair. "What's your explanation then? How come Remus told you to hold the garlic?"
"It's really quite simple. It's not a werewolf-thing; it's a Remus-thing." Sirius turned to give James a cheeky grin. "Remus doesn't want garlic near his food because he simply doesn't like garlic."
Now both James and Peter were staring at Remus, waiting for him to weigh in on the subject, but Remus wasn't looking at them. He was staring at Sirius, both surprised and fascinated that Sirius would know such a seemingly small and unnoteworthy detail about him. Was this something Sirius had just noticed over the years and found it possible useful information in the future? He couldn't even remember having ever mentioned his dislike for garlic to Sirius as that wasn't really something that came up naturally in a conversation. But even if he had mentioned it in passing at one point, it must have been years ago. Whichever way this information had reached and stuck with Sirius, here they were now, and Sirius was now looking back at Remus with a much too smug look, as if to say 'you thought I didn't know, did you?'.
"Um, Sirius is right," Remus finally said. "I don't like garlic, so I avoid it."
"Hah!" Sirius let out a triumphant laugh.
James turned to Remus,
"Really? You don't like garlic? That's why you barely touched the garlic lemon shrimp I made at New Year's?"
Remus shifted uncomfortably in his chair, but as it turned out he didn't have to answer because Sirius beat him to it.
"Well, to be fair no one really touched that, since you're a disastrous cook, Prongs," Sirius said, grinning at James. "If you look closely you'll find that you're the only one who hasn't been given a task in preparation for dinner."
It looked like James was about to start arguing, but as he looked from Peter's diced tomatoes, Remus's peeled potatoes to Sirius's stakes that were cooking, he decided to drop it.
"Well, if you still wanna feel useful you could set the table," Peter offered. "I'm almost done with the tomatoes now."
Without arguing James did as suggested and the slammering of porcelain soon filled the kitchen. In the meantime, Remus turned to Sirius,
"How come you knew I don't like garlic? I never told you that, did I?"
"I guess you didn't have to tell me," Sirius said after a moment's thinking. "I've just never seen you reach for a dish with garlic, so you know, eventually I came to the conclusion you just don't like it."
"Oh." Well, that sounded fair enough. Remus could've stopped there and deemed that a satisfying answer, but he wouldn't really be Remus if he didn't keep prodding a question that clearly had more answers than he was given. "Do you, um… Do you pay a lot of attention to what I eat?"
"Yeah, I do, actually," Sirius grinned and when Remus gave him a look asking him to elaborate, he did. "You look very cute when you eat. You know, like a porcupine eating a strawberry."
Remus couldn't really say he knew what that image might look like, but settled on accepting the explanation for now. At least that explained why he found Sirius looking at him more intensely than usual during that meal.
…
"Erhm! Hear ye, hear ye!" Sirius cleared his throat importantly as the four friends had finished up dinner and gone outside. "We have gathered here this very evening, in my back garden, to celebrate that we get to spend yet another full moon with our favorite werewolf. In honour of this celebration, we have come up with a few games for tonight. James?"
Remus couldn't help a broad grin spreading across his face at the fact that his friends had orchestrated this for him.
"Alright, so the rules for Hide and Seek - Danger Tag are pretty simple," James said, turning to face his friends. "Whoever is It will have a timed stunning spell cast on them that will last for one minute. When the stunning spell wears off the one who is It simply has to find and tag his three mates who are hiding somewhere in the forest by mark-biting his ankle. Puncturing skin is not allowed. For natural reasons Moony won't be It as we can't really stun him."
"Couldn't we tie him around a tree, and however long it takes him to escape is the time we have to hide?" Sirius suggested, grinning widely at Remus, who answered by sticking out his tongue.
"Oh, let's do that!" Peter nodded violently, seemingly very excited at the idea.
"Would that be alright with you, Moony?" James asked. "Instead of stunning you, we tie you to a tree?"
"Whatever mate, it's your funeral," Remus grinned viciously.
"You took the wolfsbane, though, right?" James asked, narrowing his eyes suspiciously at Remus.
Remus rolled his eyes,
"Yes, Prongs, I took the wolfsbane so I'll still be me. Just 8 feet tall and weigh about 400 lb. But you should know- " he added on a more serious note, "- that wolfsbane makes a werewolf kinda sleepy, so I don't think I'll wanna pull an all nighter. You know, that's kinda the point with the wolfsbane, makes you tired so you sleep through the night even when you're transformed. It's one of the ways it lessens the effects of lycanthropy."
"Yes, yes, thank you for the lecture on the effects of wolfsbane," Sirius cut off, swinging his arm around Remus's shoulders. "We'll play around for a while in the forest and then we'll go home and sleep. Moony will obviously be staying here tonight. Prongs and Wormtail, you are welcome to do so as well. But if you'd wanna go home after the werewolf's tucked in and fast asleep that's alright by me."
"Let's play the night by ear," James suggested and Peter nodded. "Right, back to the games. I suggest Remus doesn't start as It and either Sirius or I keep an extra eye on him so we can make sure the wolfsbane does it's job before we let him loose."
"Yeah, right, that's fair." Remus said.
"And since this is the first time we're playing with wolfsbane, we need to test its efficiency," Sirius said, pulling out pieces of parchment, quills and ink from his robe. "The first test, or game, if you will, is designed to test Moony's awareness and ability to still recognise his mates."
Sirius started handing out parchment and quill, but when Remus reached for one Sirius shook his head, grinning.
"Oh no, these aren't for you, mate." He picked up a box that was lying at his feet and handed it to Remus. "This is for you. Now, all here who don't suffer from the condition of lycanthropy will write a short poem, a limerick might be suitable, on this piece of parchment. Our poems then go into this box." Sirius gestured at the box Remus was holding. "And once Moony has transformed he'll open the box, read the poems and place said poem in front of the mate he thinks wrote it. Is that clear to everyone?"
"We'll be writing poetry? Are you really serious?" James whined and Sirius rolled his eyes at him, but if it was at the age old 'serious Sirius' joke or at the whining, Remus couldn't tell.
"Yes, you'll be writing poetry for me in the moonlight. It's quite beautiful, I've never had anyone do that for me before," Remus said, grinning from ear to ear.
"Yes, quite lovely," Sirius deadpanned. "Now, grab your quills and start writing. We're only minutes away now from Moony transforming."
The sound of quill on parchment filled the night as Sirius, James and Peter started writing. James was the first to finish and put his contribution in the box. Sirius followed shortly after, but it took Peter several more minutes to finish. Once all the poems were securely in the box Remus could already feel the prickling at the back of his neck so well associated with the transformation.
"It's happening," he said, putting the box down, and taking a step back.
Remus couldn't give his friends much more warning because the prickling he'd felt just a moment ago was rapidly being replaced by a burning sensation in his skin as the fur grew out, making him glad for the first time since they'd stepped out that he was only wearing Sirius's bathrobe. As this wasn't their first full moon party, Sirius, James and Peter didn't need any further instruction and at once they transformed into their animagus forms. The searing pain that normally came with his bones breaking only to reforme in a different structure was not as bad as it usually was. Under the influence of wolfsbane it was more like a dull, throbbing ache, quite similar to growing pain. The transformation was still uncomfortable, but much more endurable, and after a minute or two it stopped. Remus took a few steps forward, testing his new limbs. It was a rather peculiar feeling, being able to control his werewolf form; normally he wasn't really there for this part.
A few feet in front of him Padfoot, Prongs and Wormtail all watched him carefully, somewhat reserved. Padfoot was the first to approach him, trotting forward and wagging his tail happily. Remus wasn't really sure if werewolfs could smile, but if they could, he certainly was now. He got down on his knees, letting Padfoot come closer. Seemingly the dog had no intention of wasting time being cautious, because Padfoot jumped up at Moony, his paws on the werewolf's chest, and started licking his face.
Remus had to remind himself that this was in fact a completely normal behaviour for a dog; greeting someone they knew and was happy to see this way, and that it wasn't really Sirius licking Remus's face. Although…
No, he quickly pushed that idea out of his mind and instead gave Padfoot an affectionate buff with his head. This made the dog's tail wag even faster and he let out a happy bark for the others to come and join.
Eventually once all seemed fairly sure Remus still remained himself at least somewhat Padfoot nudged the box towards Remus.
Right, time to prove I still know my mates, Remus thought. With some assistance from Wormtail the three pieces of parchment were placed neatly on the ground in front of Remus.
Leaning in, Remus read the first poem.
There once was a man from Spinner's End
Who had never had one single friend
Because of the oil in his hair
He cried out in despair
See, his misery was an upgoing trend
Well, that dig at Snape really could've been written by either of them, couldn't it? If he was to be honest with himself, however, he really didn't give Peter enough credit to have written something that witty. Deciding he'd circle back to that one be moved on.
A boy stumbled into the kitchen
And the skin on his arms started itchen'
For there, right in sight
Sat a pie he'd so like to bite
Indeed, love's sweet arrow had stricken
Remus rolled his eyes, at least inwardly. Now that one has Wormtail all over it. Not only is it quite bad, but none other than him would write a love poem about a pie, Remus thought and proceeded to the last one.
There was a young man; a son of the moon
Who went strolling while whistling a tune
But, alas, what a dread
He saw a dog up ahead
Who ran at him so fast he might swoon
The last poem made Remus chuckle, although it proved that werewolfs couldn't really chuckle, so it came out more like a pleasant growl from deep within his chest. This had to be Sirius's, right? Surely, only he would referens a dog who could make someone swoon. The fact that it was a young man, a son of the moon, who the dog had swooning Remus decidedly ignored for the time being and sorted it into a box on a shelf far back in his mind.
So, by deductive reasoning the one about Snape was Prongs's, the one about the pie belonged to Wormtail and the one about the dog making people swoon was Padfoot's, and Remus handed them out accordingly. It soon turned out that Remus had gotten the poems spot on, and the three animagi felt confident enough in Remus's abilities that they proceeded to play Hide and Seek - Danger Tag. Prongs was the first to be It, and Peter temporarily transformed back into a human so he could time-stun Prongs, with Moony at a proper distance carefully guarded by Padfoot, of course. Safety first, said no Marauder ever, but still…
As soon as Peter had turned back into Wormtail Padfoot started buffing at Remus's legs, trying to force him towards the forest. Remus hesitated for a moment, not really comfortable leaving Prongs stunned all alone, even if it was just for a short while and they'd obviously still be close enough to hear if anything was to happen. But when Padfoot let out an impatient growl and buffed Remus's legs harder, Remus decided it was going to be fine and broke into a run and they both disappeared into the trees. As pre-negotiated Padfoot kept close to Remus as they went further into the forest and not before long Remus had completely lost track of where they'd come from or where Peter was. It was rather handy, though, to be hiding in the forest with Sirius, who evidently knew this place like his own back garden, which it, in fact, was. They'd been sneaking around for a while when they heard twigs snapping to their left and they both caught the scent of Prongs. Before Remus had the chance to react Padfoot had, with surprising stealth, pulled him into a shrubbery where they both lay down, trying to keep as quiet as possible. Between the leaves they could see Prongs pass by, with Wormtail sitting on his head, which meant Prongs only had the two hiding in the shrubs left to find. Just as Padfoot stuck his nose out to see if the coast was clear Wormtail turned his head and spotted the pair hiding. Wormtail, the little traitor, let out a squeal which caught Prongs's attention and their hiding place was made. A confused scuffle broke out as Prongs charged into the shrubbery but was resolved rather quickly after he'd managed to gently nibble both Remus's and Padfoot's ankles.
It turned out that Peter made an unlikely good It. With his small form he had the advantage of no one really being able to tell where he was as he could move through the forest as good as soundless and after some 10 minutes he'd managed to round them all up.
Next up, it was Remus's turn to be It. This turned out to be a rather anticlimactic event, though, as Prongs and Padfoot had barely had finished tying the last knot on the ropes that was supposed to hold him before Remus had broken free with the incredible strength he possessed in his werewolf-form. Padfoot, who happened to be standing closest when the werewolf tore from the ropes, was tagged within the first 2 seconds of that round. It took Remus about 25 more seconds to tag both Wormtail and Prongs and they all silently agreed that Moony was, indeed, not allowed to be It anymore after that. It would later be argued, when all of them had regained the ability to speak English, that those ropes would have held Moony better if they had been allowed to use magic. Or at least had had opposable thumbs.
Next after Moony, Padfoot proved to be the most efficient It with his impeccable sense of smell and it only took him a few minutes to locate the three other Marauders and tag them. After that they decided it was time for another activity and Padfoot led them deeper into the forest.
…
Running through the forest in his animagus form with his three best mates was the most fun Sirius had had in months. Since Sirius was the one most familiar with this forest he led the rest to a few places he'd come to like. First he took his mates to a cliffside on which they had a view over the forest. As the moon now stood high in the sky Moony wasn't able to resist howling at it, and Sirius joined in, their howls echoing over the otherwise quiet and still forest.
Next Sirius took them to a small lake a few miles from his house, and even though it was still early April and still cold in the water they all had a quick dip, their coats of fur protecting them from the worst cold. It must have been a bit after midnight when they'd finished their swim and Moony was starting to show signs that he was ready to call it a night, so they all started heading back towards Sirius's house. With Prongs and Wormtail acting as a vanguard, Moony and Sirius fell in step close behind them. On a whole, Sirius was very content with the developments of the night; he'd gotten just what he'd wanted; a fun night of shenanigans with his three best mates. And also, he'd clearly been the winner of Hide and Seek - Danger Tag. But, unfortunately, his luck turned out to be short-lived as Prongs suddenly made an abrupt halt, staring intently at something moving at the edge of a glade they were passing through. The rest looked as well, but Sirius could smell it before he could see it; another werewolf. Almost as soon as he'd registered what that meant, the other werewolf slowly stepped out of behind the trees and Sirius let out a low, warning growl.
Before anyone else had a chance to react, Moony stepped in front of the group, positioning himself as a shield between the other werewolf and his pack. A low, warning growl rumbled in his chest, his teeth baring to tell the other to back off. Behind him, Sirius heard Wormtail letting out a distressed squeal and Prongs was stamping his hooves on the ground, ready to charge if it came to that. Sirius took a step closer to Moony, to let him know they were right behind him. The unknown werewolf took a step forward, also letting out a low growl. The hackles on Sirius's back raised, he let out another warning growl, snapping the air at the intruder. This made Moony turn towards him, and Sirius didn't need to hear the words spoken out loud to know that look meant leave! Like hell he would! There wasn't a reason in the whole world that could make him leave his friend's side at a moment like this. So Sirius stayed put, his eyes fixing back on the unwelcomed werewolf as it took another step forward, growling louder and angrier this time.
This doesn't make sense, Sirius thought, why isn't he backing down? He's outnumbered, but it's still only a matter of time before he charges. What the hell is wrong with him?
He'd barely finished that thought before his fears were realised and the werewolf charged at them. Sirius ducked, barking loudly and snapping at the werewolf's ankles. Prongs charged at the werewolf too, hitting it in the ribs with his antlers, making the intruder stagger backwards, chipping for air. As it gained its breath it made an attempt at attacking Prongs, but Sirius was quicker and bit down hard on the wolf's leg, dragging it away from Prongs. The werewolf let out an ear piercing howl from the pain of Sirius's sharp teeth puncturing its leg. Turning its attention on Sirius now, the werewolf tried to wrestle loose, flinging its arms and legs in an attempt to get Sirius off, but Sirius wouldn't let go. One clawed hand came dangerously close to scratching Sirius, but Moony intervened, jumping into the messy pile of the big black dog and the intruder werewolf kicking and screaming on the ground.
Now, Sirius had seen the raw and animalistic side of Moony during transformations when they'd had a close call before. He knew how fierce and vicious Moony could get when his wolfish instincts took over. But up until that point Sirius had only witnessed it when Remus was fully transformed and not being in charge at all, not like now when Remus had taken the wolfsbane. Until just a moment ago, Remus had still been Remus, but in a werewolf form. But now, if Sirius hadn't known better he'd said that wasn't Remus. Except it was. Moony was straight up attacking the other werewolf; scratching and biting it. He wasn't doing it to mark or to scare; he was doing it to hurt and harm. To seriously injure. To… did Sirius even dare think it… kill? As Moony sunk his teeth into the other werewolf's throat, Sirius let out a loud bark.
No!
With little to no consideration for his own safety he tried to get Moony off. Yes, the other werewolf was a complete dickhead who probably deserved to meet his maker this way. But Moony, Sirius was sure, didn't deserve to be forced to such a drastic act as to kill someone. Now, that was something worth risking your own safety for, so Sirius tried to push and drag his friend off, the dickhead werewolf not making it easier for Sirius to get Remus off as it kept clawing at Moony. Suddenly the dickhead werewolf's claws struck Moony across his face, and Moony let go, letting out a distraught yelp. Somewhere in the turmoil of the fight and confusion Sirius heard a voice shouting behind him,
"Get Moony away! Duck!"
Without fully realising what was going on, Sirius blindly obeyed the voice, tackling Moony away from the other werewolf just as a stream of yellow light hit the dickhead.
"Stupefy!" Now a red stream hit the werewolf, only, it wasn't a werewolf anymore, but a human man with dark, dirty and tangled hair who was bleeding from deep puncture wounds on his neck.
"Padfoot, don't let Moony come near!" James ordered, rushing over to the now stunned man and it was first then Sirius realised James had transformed back into human. "I cast the Homorphus Charm on him, but it won't hold long I'm afraid. We only have a minute or two before he turns again. Peter, transform back and help me!"
As Peter transformed back into a man as well, him and James leaned over the stunned man, inspecting his wounds. In the meantime, Sirius turned his attention back to Moony, but saw at once he needn't worry about Moony attacking James and Peter even though in their human forms. Moony was still panting heavily, but his eyes weren't black holes anymore. He was Remus again. A pang of sorrow pierced through Sirius when Moony let out a heart wrenching howl. If it was because of the pain from the deep cuts on his face or because of despair from what he'd almost done, Sirius couldn't tell.
"Go back to the house!" James ordered, not turning his attention away from the man on the ground. "Moony, you can't howl or there might be more coming. Padfoot, get him back and stay there! Peter and I will apparate as soon as we've dealt with this one."
Not needing to be told twice, Sirius began pushing Moony in the direction of the house, picking up pace and soon they both broke into a run. They ran as fast as their legs would carry them for several miles straight and didn't slow down until they reached Sirius's back garden where Moony began to stagger, stumbling the last few steps. Between the strain of the run, the fight, the wounds and the wolfsbane, no wonder Moony was having trouble remaining perpendicular at this point, Sirius thought. He did his best to support Moony the few remaining steps, but carrying the weight of a werewolf after a several mile rush proved difficult. To their relief the door to Sirius's house opened and Prongs trotted out, now once again in the form of a stag. Somehow the dog and the stag managed to get the now nearly unconscious werewolf up the stairs, only at the cost of a few pictures hanging on the wall falling and smashing. At the back of his mind, Sirius wondered if this was one of those near mishaps they'd be laughing at in a few days; even during these circumstances it was hilarious to see a stag trying to climb a flight of stairs while simultaneously pushing a werewolf in front of him.
Eventually they managed to get Moony onto Sirius's bed and Sirius barked out, hoping Prongs or Wormtail would understand his request. Both immediately left the room and Sirius jumped up on the bed, inspecting Moony's wounds. After a quick inspection with his extremely advanced sense of smell he deemed they weren't deep enough to be life threatening, but needed to be treated right away if they should have any chance of not leaving extremely brutal scars. A moment later Prongs reappeared in the bedroom, Wormtail sitting on the stag's head holding a bottle of Dittany.
Well, you don't become the Marauders without telepathic abilities, Sirius thought, thankful that his friends had understood his request to get Dittany.
Wormtail held the bottle and Sirius gently bit the lid and pulled. The result was a complete failure as Wormtail wasn't strong enough to hold onto the phial. After three more failed attempts where Wormtail had fallen off Prongs's head and face planted on the bed twice Sirius let out a frustrated growl and transformed back into his human form. He heard the disapproving sounds made from both Prongs and Wormtail, but he couldn't be bothered.
"Don't stress it," he mumbled, uncorking the phial and began dabbing the Dittany on Remus's face. "He's almost passed out anyway."
The sound of Sirius's voice made Moony open his eyes, and for a split second, when Sirius and Moony locked eyes, Sirius wondered if it'd prove to be a dire mistake to tend to his friend in human form. But he didn't need to worry as Moony just let out a low hum before closing his eyes again.
"That man? The dickhead in the forest? What did you do with him?" Sirius finally asked as he'd finished applying Dittany seemingly all over Moony.
Prongs nodded his head in the direction of the door and walked out, Wormtail still sitting on his head.
"I'll be back before you know it," Sirius murmured to Moony, giving his shoulder a gentle squeeze before following Prongs.
It wasn't until they were down in the kitchen both James and Peter transformed back.
"What were you thinking, Sirius?" Was the first thing Peter yelled, his voice high pitched and his eyes wide with terror. "Moony could have bitten you just then!"
"What I was thinking -" Sirius growled back, towering ominously over Peter, "- was that one of my best mates needed me and therefore his need for me overruled my immediate concern for myself! That's what it means to be a Marauder, Peter!"
"Alright, that's enough, Sirius!" James snapped, pushing Sirius away from Peter. "Peter's concern is valid, and you know it! If luck hadn't been on your side just then we would've had to rename you Moonfoot!"
"You're the one to talk, eh?" Sirius shot back, now turning his anger towards James. "At least I was approaching Moony, our Moony, while you and Peter walked straight up to that dickhead as if it was nothing!"
"That dickhead was not transformed as we approached since I cast that Homorphus Charm on him, and furthermore he was stunned!" James roared.
"No, don't fight!" Peter cut in. "It was a close call, but everyone got out okay. Well, mostly okay," he added looking miserably towards the upstairs bedroom.
Sirius followed Peter's line of vision and let out a deep sigh.
He sat down at the kitchen table;
"What did you do with him, then? The dickhead?"
"Peter put pressure on the wounds on his throat and I obliviated him," James said, his voice now leveled and calm again. "Then we apparated back here and a few minutes later the two of you came."
Sirius looked between James and Peter,
"Obliviated him? Nice one, James."
A grin flashed over James's face but was quickly replaced by sternness,
"Well, we reckoned he wouldn't remember anything in the morning anyway, but he seemed really off the way he attacked, so we didn't want to take any risks."
"He did seem off, didn't he?" Peter agreed. "I've never seen a werewolf attack other non-humans with no provocation before."
Sirius nodded,
"Something was definitely off about that one. Did either of you recognise him?"
Peter shook his head, looking down at the table.
"No, but I don't think it was that Greyback bloke," James said. "Didn't match the description Dumbledore gave us."
"Could've been one from his pack, though," Peter offered. "Sent here by Greyback to find us?"
Sirius tuned out. He didn't really care who that dickhead in the forest had been or why he'd been there. His mind wandered upstairs to Remus, and he wondered how Remus was going to feel tomorrow when he woke up.
"What do you think, Sirius?" James's question brought Sirius back to the conversation at the table.
"Hmm?" He looked up at James. "Oh, I don't know." He rose from the chair. "And I don't really care right now."
"Where are you going?" Peter asked.
"I'm gonna keep Moony company. I don't want him to wake up alone and wonder where we are," Sirius said. "You can take the sofa if you can fit, Prongs, and Wormtail, there's a teapot in the cupboard for you."
"But- " If James had any criticism of this plan, Sirius never heard it because he'd already transformed into the big black dog again and was halfway up the stairs.
…
When Remus slowly opened his eyes the next morning he felt like he'd been run over by a flock of Thestrals. Every inch of his body ached, and for a moment he was ready to blame it on this particularly difficult moon, but then the memories from last night came rushing back to him. No matter how hard he tried not to think about it, images of the unknown werewolf snapping and clawing at Sirius, James and himself kept flashing before him. He made an effort to try and turn over in the bed, but found his movements were restricted. It wasn't due to a body binding curse, which had been his first assumption, but due to a large, black dog laying on top of him.
"Padfoot," he murmured, his voice still thick with sleep.
The dog's ears perked up and he looked up at Remus tentatively.
"I'm alright," Remus assured the dog, sensing the question. "Thank you."
He let his land run over Padfoot's thick coat, and was rewarded with the dog's tail hitting his legs over the cover.
"Alright, alright," Remus laughed. "Would you mind getting off me? I'm a bit sore and you're not making it better."
The dog hopped on the floor and rounded the bed and Remus sat up, a little too hastily, and he winced at the swift movement,
"I didn't mean I wanted you to leave."
But Padfoot didn't leave, not really anyway, because when Remus opened his eyes again Sirius was sitting on the edge of the bed.
"Of course I'm not leaving, you tosspot," he said, unscrewing a lid on a small jar. "Where does it hurt the most?"
"Face. Legs. Shoulders," Remus grimaged. "Back. And somehow feet. That's new."
The corner of Sirius mouth twitched as he dipped his fingers into the jar and rubbed the ointment onto his hands,
"We'll start with the legs, then, as I think it's best we let your face rest." He gently lifted the covers to reveal Remus's right leg and Remus suddenly became very aware that he was completely naked.
This shouldn't have been news to him, as this was always the case after a transformation; either he stripped down beforehand or his clothes tore to shreds as his body changed, either way, he always woke up naked. That usually was the least of his concerns, but this time it was really hard not to be extremely aware of the state of his undressedness as Sirius was rubbing ointment and massaging it into his legs.
"How much do you remember?" Sirius asked, pulling Remus's attention away from his lack of clothing.
"Everything." Remus swallowed thickly. "That man… Is he..?"
"He survived," Sirius said, dryly. "Or so we assume. Once you and I took off Peter put pressure to his wounds and James obliviated him."
Remus couldn't help but gasp,
"James obliviated him?"
"Yes, so he wouldn't follow us when he came to it." Sirius paused his ointment application to look at Remus. "That werewolf wasn't right, Remus. You know as well as I do that his natural instinct should have told him to back off when he realised he was outnumbered and we would fight him if he gave us a reason to. But he didn't."
"Well, maybe it was his first time? Maybe he's having a really hard time adjusting?" Remus offered, but the look Sirius gave him told him Sirius wasn't on board with this theory even for a second.
"Or maybe we're in the middle of a war and he'd been trained," Sirius counter offered. "Trained to act exactly the way he was acting last night. To recognise wizards even in disguise. To recognise other werewolves that aren't a part of his pack and attack them."
Remus let out a long sigh and Sirius turned his attention back to the ointment and tended to Remus's left leg. Well, that theory was actually more plausible than his own, and that made Remus frown.
"How's my face looking, by the way?" he asked, feeling the cuts and bruises more prominently now as he spoke.
An unapologetic smirk spread across Sirius's face,
"Dashing."
He just couldn't resist, could he? Remus thought, not being able to stop a smirk forming across his own lips.
"You know what I mean." he said, tracing his fingers lightly across one gash.
"Don't touch it!" Sirius swatted his fingers away. "I put Dittany on it last night. At least give it a chance to heal. But I'm pretty sure it's gonna leave a rather impressive scar. I'm sorry."
Truth be told, Remus thought he'd be sorry too, but he really wasn't.
"It's alright, really." He gave Sirius a smile. "Thanks for looking after me when we got back. I remember you had to turn back to put the Dittany on me. Don't think I'm taking an act like that for granted."
"Well, I know you would've done the same for me," Sirius shrugged. "And I know your general appreciation for scars so… You know, I thought I should do what I could."
"Yeah, but my other scars are self inflicted." Remus said, sitting up a little straighter, and Sirius looked at him. "The scars I give myself are a constant reminder of the pain I go through and all that's bad about being a werewolf. But when I get scars because I fought to stop someone hurting, or even killing my friends… Well, that makes all the difference in the world, doesn't it? Those scars I won't be ashamed of. They're something I can be proud of, even."
"And proud you should be. You saved my life last night." Sirius stopped massaging Remus's legs for a moment to study his face. "And they do make you look even more badarse than before."
If Remus wasn't completely misstaken a faint blush had tinted Sirius's cheeks and it made Remus wonder if there was something else that the last statement meant that didn't really translate. But before he'd had a chance to decipher any hidden meanings, Sirius had stood up.
"Scoot." He pulled at Remus's legs. "Shoulders and back next."
Remus pulled the covers around his middle and scooted down so Sirius could wedge himself between Remus and the headboard. His legs were already feeling loads better and as Sirius started rubbing the ointment on his shoulders Remus let out a content sigh, dropping his head forward to give Sirius better access. This routine wasn't new to them as it had happened quite frequently during school. About once a month, in fact, but even though this hadn't been a monthly event since graduation Sirius's fingers still found all the knots and loosened them with impeccable skill. Feeling Sirius's hands work down his back and relieving the pain brought back memories of all those mornings during school in which he'd done the same, and a warmth spread through Remus.
"I've missed this," he admitted quietly. "I don't know if I ever told you, but the fact that you always did this the next morning gave me reassurance that I hadn't cocked things up beyond repair."
Sirius gave off a snorting laugh,
"If anyone was gonna cock things up, it was gonna be me or James, wasn't it? You know we'd never have blamed you for anything, right? We know the terms under which you transform, and have since long before we started accompanying you."
Remus grunted as Sirius dug his finger into a particularly tight knot under his shoulder blade,
"Urgh. I know, you keep telling me so. But it still made me feel better."
"I keep telling you so because it doesn't seem to go through that thick head of yours," Sirius said and dug a finger in between Remus's ribs.
"Oi! Stop that!" Remus yelled, squirming away from Sirius's finger. "That tickles."
"Well, get it through your head that you've got friends who like you, just the way you are!" Sirius chirped, digging another finger between Remus's ribs on the other side.
The tickle made Remus shriek with laughter.
"Fine, alright! Fine!" he wheezed out. "I get it! I get it!"
But Sirius wasn't satisfied yet.
"Let me hear you say it, then!" he said, his tone light and playful as his finger prodded Remus's back this time. "Say you know I like you! Just the way you are!"
"Fine then!" Remus managed to get out amidst the laughter. "I know you like me, just the way I am."
The poking and prodding stopped and Remus felt Sirius's arms wrap around him, pulling his back flush against Sirius's front.
"That's more like it," Sirius murmured, his mouth now very close to Remus's ear. "That wasn't so hard, was it?"
"Want me to say it again? You like me." Remus panted, still catching his breath. "You like me."
Sirius's arms around him tightened, his lips ghosting Remus's ear,
"And don't you ever forget it."
The whisper sent a pleasant chill down Remus's spine and he leaned back, resting his head on Sirius's chest.
Hang on…
You like me.
Like, like-like me?
Remus almost didn't dare to even think that thought, because if he did he was getting dangerously close to tearing down a wall of defense he'd spent seven years carefully building.
Sirius is your friend. He likes you as a friend. And you're his friend. That's all in the same box.
You also like him, like, like him-like him. But that goes in another box. And the boxes never touch.
Suddenly very aware of what an intimate position he was in, Remus felt himself tense up.
"Shit, did I hurt you?" Sirius asked, him, too, noticing how rigid Remus suddenly went. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to poke you hard. I just wanted to tease you a bit."
"Um, no, that's alright." Remus mumbled. "I'm fine."
"Then why so tense?" Sirius's grip around him loosened a bit. "If I'm making you uncomfortable you'll tell me, right?"
Oh, I think you'll be the uncomfortable one soon enough if you're gonna keep murmuring in my ear like that.
"No, don't worry about it. I'm very comfortable," Remus said, willing himself to relax.
"Good." Sirius rested his chin on top of Remus's head. "Because I am too."
Alright, so this isn't what usually happens the morning after. Am I completely out of my mind or is this not strictly platonic anymore?
The answer came as Sirius's hands, for seemingly no medicinal reason, slowly traveled up Remus's front and came to rest on his chest. If Remus was onto something and this in fact had stopped being a platonic thing, then surely Sirius wouldn't protest if Remus's hands were to gently grace and then rest on Sirius's thighs which just happened to press ever so lightly at either side of Remus, right? As Remus put his theory to the test he felt Sirius's thumb gently brushing over his collarbone and the skin on his chest prickled with delight.
This isn't platonic, is it?
He tilted his head upwards, just the tiniest bit, to find Sirius was looking at him as well, their eyes met.
"Sirius…"
A pause.
"Remus…"
Another pause.
Then they both drew a breath as if to speak, but neither did as they waited for the other to go first. But none of them went, and instead they both started laughing. The distinct sound of glass breaking followed by a long chant of foul words coming from downstairs eventually made them stop.
"I think James and Peter are making breakfast," Sirius grinned, still not taking his eyes off Remus.
"You wanna go down and help them?" Remus offered, despite his knowledge that if they got up now there was a good risk that whatever this was would be lost, never to be found again. "Or maybe just to make sure you will still have a kitchen when they're done?"
Sirius gave him a lopsided grin.
"No, I don't," he said.
"You- You don't?" Remus eyebrow shot up. "Aren't you hungry?"
The look Sirius gave him just then made Remus swallow, hard.
"Oh, I'm starving."
Remus closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. Damn you, Sirius Incorrigible Vexatious Black! Now you've done it; you've got me naked in bed with a bloody raging hard-on with no way to sort that out discreetly, and the worst part is - you bloody well know what you're doing!
Remus felt a blush creep up his neck and cheeks as Sirius gave him an almost predatory grin,
"Are you hard right now? I made you hard just then, didn't I?"
If Sirius hadn't been such a bloody wanker, Remus decided he'd be impressed by this impeccable timing and skill.
"Yes. Yes, you did," Remus admitted in a surprisingly leveled voice. "Happy about that, are you?"
"Extremely." Sirius grinned and bucked his hips gently and there was no mistaking what was pushing into Remus's back.
"Oh, you're hard too," he observed. "Did you manage that on your own by listening to yourself, or..?"
For a moment it looked as if Sirius was taken aback by Remus's neutral delivery, but he quickly seemed to find himself,
"Oh, how cheeky, Moony. Is that what you think? The sound of my own voice gets me hot and bothered?"
Deciding to play coy, Remus grinned,
"Oh, that's absolutely what I think. But please, feel free to correct me if I'm wrong."
He could see the thoughts and emotions rushing past 100 mile a minute in Sirius's eyes. Sirius didn't want to say it, and Remus understood perfectly well why. If it's spoken aloud you can't take it back, and if you can't take it back and it turns out to be a shit idea, well then you're fucked, aren't you? And not in the good way. Might cost you your best friends in this instance. But on the other hand… They were in the middle of an open war. Just last night had been a close call for all of them. Who was to say this war couldn't cost you your best friends anyway? And don't they say that what you truly regret at the end of the day are the things you didn't do?
Screw this, Remus finally settled on and threw caution to the wind. In the blink of an eye he'd torn down the protective wall he'd built and kept intact for seven years. He let the boxes touch.
"You don't want to say it, do you?" He grinned teasingly at Sirius.
"That you're wrong?" Sirius grinned back, now that he'd seemed to remember how to speak again. "I've got no problem telling you you're wrong."
"Then enlighten me," Remus challenged, arching an eyebrow. "What's gotten you hot and bothered?"
But no words came this time either and now Remus was beginning to wonder if Sirius was having a stroke. Eventually he decided to help him out a bit.
"You want me to say it for you?" He grinned at Sirius. "Fine, I will. You like me."
Words still seemed to elude Sirius, but a wide grin spread across his lips in confirmation.
"You like like me," Remus continued, running his hands down Sirius's legs but still not taking his eyes off Sirius's. "You like me so much it's got you tongue tied, you usual chatterbox."
This made Sirius burst out laughing and naturally Remus couldn't stop himself from doing the same. Sirius's arms once again wrapped around Remus, hugging him tightly.
"Go on then," Remus laughed. "Tell me I'm wrong!"
Sirius took a deep breath, then he stopped laughing.
"You're not wrong," he said, still grinning widely.
"Let me hear you say it, then," Remus teased, echoing Sirius's own words from earlier back to him. "Tell me you like me."
"I just said I did," Sirius laughed.
"No, you didn't, you sneaky sod!" Remus protested, pinching Sirius's thighs and thereby making Sirius jump. "You just said I wasn't wrong."
"That's the same thing." Sirius tried swatting Remus's hands away. "Knock it off, it tickles!"
"Say it! Tell me you like me!" Remus grinned, going in the opposite direction of Sirius's wish and squeezed the thighs harder.
"Alright, alright, yield!" Sirius laughed after a moment's struggle. "I like you, you wanker! Happy?"
"Very," Remus smiled smugly, tilting his head back to rest on Sirius's chest again. "That wasn't so hard, was it?"
Running his hand through Remus's hair, Sirius said,
"It sorta was, actually."
"I know."
At that moment Peter, carrying a tray with toast marmalade and pumpkin juice, appeared in the doorway, closely followed by James who levitated a teapot and four mugs.
"Oh, you're up! Good!" James grinned, flicking his wand to land the teapot and mugs on the nightstand.
Remus made an effort to sit up as he wasn't really sure how much of what had just happened was to remain undisclosed to the rest of their group for the time being, but the one arm Sirius still held around him stopped him.
Oh, alright, seems like we're going for full disclosure right away then, Remus thought as he settled back against Sirius's chest.
"Did, ehrm, did we interrupt something?" James asked, his eyes following Sirius's hand as it ran through Remus's hair.
"No, you didn't," Sirius quipped, as if this situation happened every day. "Everything is well in order."
James's eyes flicked to Remus, who simply shrugged.
"Would you pass me a toast, please, Peter?" Remus asked. "And some marmalade?"
Eventually James shrugged as well and poured them all some tea.
"Alright, if you say so," he said as he handed out tea to everyone. "How are you feeling today, Moony?"
"I'm better now, actually." Remus smiled. "When I woke up I felt like shite, but the Dittany and ointment are already working."
"And now with some food you'll feel as good as new again!" Peter grinned, handing Remus a toast with marmalade spread on it.
"Thanks, Peter," Remus said, taking a bite. "And listen, thank you, all of you, for last night. That was… I really appreciate it."
"Hey, don't mention it," James said, taking a sip of his tea. He then arched an eyebrow at Remus, "No, hold on. On a second thought, let's do mention it! Remus, do you remember how you used to complain about getting me or Sirius up to our dorms after a wild party? Well, it wasn't as fucking hard as getting an almost unconscious 400 lb werewolf up the stairs and into bed, I'll tell you that."
"Is that so?" Remus challenged. "Was getting me in bed last night really worse than the time you lost that drinking game in the Ravenclaw common room and you and I sneaked back to Gryffindor tower under the cloak, but you insisted on playing The Floor Is Lava all through the castle?" He turned to Sirius. "Or that night when you convinced me to take a detour to the library so you could have a contest with that book on Inferi in the restricted section who screamed in a perfect C to see which of you could hold the note the longest?"
"Well, Remus, you didn't have to push us up those stairs with hooves slippering all over the hardwood," Sirius grinned. "James, I'm sorry, mate, but you looked bloody ridiculous, like a fawn learning how to walk."
"I couldn't have looked as ridiculous as Peter did last night, falling off my head and face planting on the bed when the two of you tried to open the Dittany phial," James grinned, nudging Peter with his elbow.
"Oi, it's hard to hold onto something without opposable thumbs, alright?" Peter protested. "I didn't see you giving it a go opening that phial, Prongs. But you would've just gotten your antlers tangled in the curtains and panicked, trying to kick yourself free but accidentally kick a transfiguration book out the window, huh?"
James's cheeks flushed, but Sirius and Remus just looked confused at Peter and James.
"That's a very specific hypothetical thing to happen, but I don't remember that from last night," Sirius said, frowning at James.
"Oh, no, I guess you're right!" Peter smacked his forehead. "That was this morning!"
"You rat! Don't sell me out like that!" James growled at Peter, but they all heard there was no venom to James's words.
"That's what that loud crash was?" Remus laughed. "We heard that. Just thought the two of you were making breakfast though."
"Hey, I fixed that window almost immediately!" James held up his hands in surrender. "But Peter slept in a teapot last night, let's make fun of that!"
"Not this teapot, I hope," Remus said, looking into his cup suspiciously.
James and Peter exchanged a quick glance before James said,
"No, of course not."
Before Remus had a chance to react, the back of his head was sprayed with hot tea as Sirius's mouth engaged in emergency evacuation.
"Shit, sorry, Remus!" Sirius tried to plead as both James and Peter doubled over in bed, laughing. "I didn't mean to do that! I swear!"
With his hair dripping Remus turned around, furious.
"Didn't mean to?" he yelled. "You've got those two morons sitting 3 feet to your left you could've spit your mouth full of tea at! One of them broke your bloody window and the other contaminated your drink."
"Actually, I washed that teapot five times," Peter interjected. "And then James cleaned it six more times because he didn't trust me."
It was impossible to stay mad, Remus found, when all of his friends started laughing again. He leaned back against Sirius's chest again, allowing himself to just enjoy listening to his friends reciting the funniest bits of the chaos that had been last night as he simultaneously letting himself relish at how Sirius's finger running through his hair, brushing his arm or gracing his cheek sent homely and familiar warmth throughout his whole body.
…
The four Marauders had almost finished breakfast when a patronus in the shape of a phoenix materialised in Sirius's bedroom, effectively silencing the laughter that had filled the room.
"I've got news in regards to last night. I'm coming to see you all shortly. I won't be coming alone," the voice of Albus Dumbledore came from the patronus before it disappeared again.
Sirius's eyes darted straight to James,
"You sent him a message last night after I went up to Remus, didn't you?"
"Yeah, we did," James admitted. "I flooed him and told him that there was a werewolf hurt in the forest near your house. He said he was gonna send a search party. I didn't give him any details of how it happened, I swear."
Sirius took a moment to ponder over this turn of events, and what that could possibly mean for their animagi-secret.
"I think that was a good thing. I hope they got him," Sirius finally said, and James seemed to let out a breath of relief. "Alright, but now we've only got a few minutes to get our story straight."
"No one mentions Wormtail, Padfoot or Prongs, is that understood?" James asked, looking at his friends, giving Peter an extra long look. "That's still a level two secret; meaning Marauders only."
"But Lily knows," Peter protested. "She's not technically a Marauder, is she?"
"Well, Lily is married to one, isn't she?" Sirius arched an eyebrow at Peter. "Means she's a part of the pack, no doubt."
James gave Sirius a thankful look as Remus spoke up,
"Well, the situation clearly calls for Marauder's Contingency Plan B." Remus sat up straight so he could see all of them properly. "They already know we did something reckless we weren't supposed to be doing so we'll never get away with it. Therefore, we only deny the most incriminating part, meaning we tell them exactly what happened last night, except the part where you three were actually in animal forms as it happened."
"Right, just like when they caught us filling the staff room with dung bombs for a month straight," Peter said, nodding his head eagerly. "We admitted to doing it, but we never mentioned it was because we had the map that we were able to execute the prank because we could see when the staff room was empty."
James nodded,
"Yeah, under no circumstances do we let slip we're unregistered animagi. Our official answer to when they ask us how we could be so reckless is that we had faith in the wolfsbane, which is in part true."
"Smart, keeping as close to the truth as possible," Sirius agreed.
"You reckon I've got time for a quick shower before Dumbeldore shows up?" Remus asked, running his hands through his still tea-damp hair.
"Sure, maybe a really quick -" But James hadn't even finished before the cracking sound of Sirius's fireplace told them that someone was arriving through the floo. "Never mind. Get dressed and meet us downstairs."
James and Peter disappeared down stairs, but Sirius had managed to get himself tangled in the covers still covering Remus still undressed form, so he was held up.
"Um, where are my clothes?" Remus muttered as they'd finally managed to free Sirius, while scanning Sirius's bedroom. "Shit, I left them downstairs in your bathroom."
"Well, here. Take this," Sirius said, tossing a t-shirt and a pair of black jeans at Remus.
"Are you seri - ?" Remus had the decency to not finish that sentence but the look he gave Sirius as he held up the t-shirt which had the Rolling Stones logo on the front wasn't amused. "I mean, really?"
"Well, Moony, am I hard enough, rough enough, rich enough, do you reckon?" Siriussmirked, taking a step towards Remus.
"Sirius, in any other circumstance I'd have told you 'let's go home and draw the curtains', but Dumbledore is downstairs right now waiting to tell us off," Remus said as he pulled on the jeans and, a bit reluctantly, the Rolling Stones t-shirt. "Your sexual advances will just have to wait, I'm afraid."
"Alright, fine," Sirius caved, very reluctantly. "But I'm not dropping this."
Remus rolled his eyes and the two of them made their way downstairs and into the kitchen where they found Professor Dumbledore accompanied by Madam Pomfrey and, oh bugger, Professor McGonagall.
"Shit, I thought the days where she could reprimand us were over," Sirius whispered to Remus as they joined James and Peter.
"Remus, sit down at once so I can have a look at you," Madam Pomfrey ordered, gesturing at a vacant chair and Remus obeyed. "It's a wonder you're able to stand up at all from what I hear."
"Yeah, well, I've had an initial treatment already," Remus tried to explain but Madam Pomfrey shushed him and started examining the cuts across his face.
"So, now that you are all here I can, once again tell you how very reckless your behaviour last night was," Professor McGonagall said, her stern face making Sirius wonder how close she was to giving all of them detention for a month, even though she really didn't have that authority anymore. "I don't think I need to tell you how lucky you are to even be alive!"
"Like I said, Professor, we trusted the wolfsbane," James said, and Sirius nodded his confirmation. "And we just wanted to keep Remus company."
"Yeah, last night was a particularly bad moon," Sirius chimed in. "We didn't want our friend to go through that alone, as you surely can understand."
"But running around a forest with a grown werewolf is very dangerous if you haven't got any idea of what you're doing, even if the werewolf has taken wolfsbane before!" Professor McGonagall reprimanded, making the four Marauders squirm uncomfortably.
"Because you are inexperienced in this, aren't you?" Professor Dumbledore said, peering at the four of them over his half moon spectacles with that look that had always made Sirius feel like Dumbledore could read minds and see your soul. "You haven't done anything like this before, have you? Not during your time at Hogwarts, nor after you graduated, I presume."
"No, of course not, Professor," the three animagi lied boldly.
If Dumbledore really bought their lie they couldn't tell, but he decided not to push the matter further at least.
"Well then," Dumbledore said instead. "I'm happy to be able to inform you that the werewolf you encountered and injured was found and detained about four hours ago by Fabian and Gideon. I have yet to see the man myself and confirm it, but we have it on authority that he was indeed a member of Greyback's pack. What he was doing straying so far away from their camp has yet to reveal itself."
"Um, Sir, I feel like I should tell you that I obliviated him last night," James confessed, and Dumbledore looked at him. "I cast the Homorphus Charm so I could stun him. Peter then put pressure on his wounds and I obliviated him while Sirius took Remus back to the house. I was afraid he was going to come after us if I didn't alter his memory."
Upon hearing this McGonagall drew in a sharp breath.
"The Homorphus Charm is very advanced magic, Mr Potter, and it could very well have had a disastrous end," she said, then did something Sirius had never seen her do while in the middle of reprimanding a Marauder; she smiled. "But that was very quick thinking on your part, well done."
"And what did you do with these wounds?" Madam Pomfrey asked, first now looking up from her examination of Remus. "These are clearly inflicted by a werewolf, but have healed a lot more than it should have since they were given."
"Um, I put Dittany on them, Madam Pomfrey," Sirius said. "Remus had nearly passed out as we got home, but James and I managed to get him into bed and then I put the Dittany on all the scratches and bite marks I could find."
"You WHAT?" Madam Pomfrey shrieked, abandoning Remus to turn her attention on James and Sirius.
"Oh, was I not supposed to use Dittany?" Sirius asked, now concerned he'd made it worse for Remus by sealing the wounds before they'd been properly cleaned.
"Yes, the Dittany was a very good choice, Mr Black, but getting a 400 lb werewolf into bed and treating his wounds was a very dangerous thing to do for a human." Madam Pomfrey was now examining Sirius's arms, hands and face carefully. "Remus could have accidentally hurt you, or the other werewolf's saliva could have gotten into a cut you already had."
When Sirius looked over at Remus and saw his pained expression he felt a flash of anger.
"Well, I couldn't have cared less," he said firmly, receiving mildly shocked looks from the other's in the room. "Remus needed help, so of course I was gonna give it to him. It's a no-brainer, lycanthropy or not."
Remus sent Sirius a thankful look, which Sirius hoped he answered with a look that said 'don't mention it'. After Madam Pomfrey had examined Sirius without finding anything ill-boding she turned her attention to James and did the same.
"Hmfp, not a scratch," she finally said and Professor McGonagall looked like she was ready to give Gryffindor 50 points for sheer dumb luck, although she, obviously, wasn't allowed to do that anymore either.
After that it was smooth sailing for the Marauders. Both Professor Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall asked them some more questions about the events of last night but nothing that had the four giving hard-to-believe-explanations and after about 30 more minutes Professor Dumbledore seemed satisfied and promised to let them know whatever he found out from the man the Prewett brothers currently had detained. With that Dumbledore, McGonagall and Pomfrey left, leaving the Marauders alone in the kitchen.
"Wow, that was close!" Peter let out a breath he'd seemed to be holding during the whole visit. "Lucky we were able to keep our cool!"
"Lucky we've got the well practised Marauder's Contingency Plan B!" James laughed, giving Remus's shoulder a light punch. "I can't believe we got out scot-free from that!"
"Oh, come on, mate. The Marauders always get away with it," Sirius smirked, sitting down at the table and swinging his feet up on the table. "The trick is to be so far out of line that they believe they've already heard the worst when they've really only heard half of it."
The four friends laughed together for a long time after that before they were finally able to compose themselves.
"Well, speaking of getting out scot-free, I should really get back home before Lily starts to worry too much," James finally said. "But definitely write me down for the next moon stroll."
"Right, send Lily our love, will you?" Remus said, getting up from the chair.
"I should head home as well," Peter said and together the four walked out to the sitting room where they shared a group hug before James and Peter flooed home.
"So… " Sirius said, turning to Remus, suddenly finding himself a bit nervous. "What about you?"
"What about me, what?" Remus asked, arching an eyebrow, teasingly.
"Are you… would you, um, like to stay here for a while?" Sirius eventually managed to get out.
"Oh, I thought that was already implied," Remus said, sounding a bit surprised for real. "You know, since I told you about an hour ago that certain... endeavours had to wait until Dumbledore had finished telling us off. And you said you wouldn't drop it. Have you- I mean, do... do you want to drop it?"
Fuck no, we're not dropping it! the voice at the back of Sirius's head screamed.
Obviously we're not dropping it, now sod off, Sirius told the voice.
"No, I don't want to drop it," Sirius said, but his voice didn't come out as confident as he would've liked it to. "I want to do the opposite."
"You want to… pick it up?" Remus offered, eyeing Sirius confused. "Sirius, what does that even mean?"
"No, don't pick it up. That's not what I meant," Sirius said, running his hands through his hair and sitting down in one of the armchairs. "Shit, I'm so bad at this."
Remus smiled, sitting down on the footstool in front of the armchair,
"I think you're better at this than you think. Don't think too carefully about how to phrase things, alright? What is it that you want? What do you want with me? Us?"
Alright, Remus told you to remove the filter, have at it, kiddo.
"I like you, Remus. Like, like-like you. A lot. And I think you're fit. Like, very fit." Yup, he'd done as Remus asked and not thought about it alright. The bright smile that spread across Remus's face at this confession gave Sirius the courage to go on. "And I wanna be with you, in all the ways. I mean, I want us to be together, like together as, um, I dunno, boyfriends, I guess. Shit, that sounds so fucking stupid. Not because I don't want that, because that's essentially what I do want. It just feel so fucking odd saying I want you to be my boyfriend, because what I really want is for you to be my Remus. And I want to be your Sirius. Fuck. No, that sounds stupid as well. Let me try again. Shit. I love you."
Sirius's hands flew over his mouth, as if he was trying to stop those last words from coming out, but too late.
Yeah, I shouldn't have left you unsupervised. That's on me, the voice at the back of Sirius's mind said.
Remus, in the meantime, just stared at Sirius, like Sirius had just proposed they should rob Gringotts, or something equally insane. And maybe that was just what he had done. When Remus still hadn't spoken or even made a sound in a few moments Sirius began to worry for real.
"Remus, you've got to say something, or else I'm gonna go mad. Just say something. Anything would do. But preferably nothing that'll gut me. But no pressure. Just say something, alright?" Sirius rambled, chewing on his bottom lip. Shit, he'd never ever been this nervous in his life before.
"How long?" Remus finally asked.
"How long?" Sirius echoed. "Well, forever, I think. Hope. No, shit, that sounds too vague, doesn't it? Like I'm not sure. But I am - sure, I mean. It's just, I was never that good at Divination, so I can't really predict the future, but I know I want it, you, us, for forever and -"
"No, not how long as in how much more time," Remus interrupted. "You said you love me. How long have you loved me?"
"Oh, well that's much easier, then. Since always," Sirius said.
"I don't mean as a friend, Sirius." The earnest look Remus gave him just then made Sirius understand that this, for one reason or another, was very important to Remus.
"Honest? I don't know. But probably a lot longer than I've got the capacity to realise. I think I might have confused my love for you with my love for the full moon. Yeah, I liked the messes we got into and out of, but what I really loved was that it made you happy. Making plans for next month's stroll made you happy. Those mornings waking up in the Shrieking Shack and going over the night before, you were so happy. Even the ointment; I've always loved doing that for you because you liked it. And also, it made me feel like I was special to you, because it was always me who did that. And I loved that, too. It felt like it was our thing." Sirius trailed off and paused, chewing his lip again. "But if you need a specific time and date I think I fully realised it when I said it just now. So, for four minutes, then? Or you could go with always, that's also on the table. And so is forever. Your choice."
"Well, always and forever sounds pretty good to me, then. So I think I'll be going with those two," Remus said, his voice was quiet but his eyes practically sparkled.
"Oh, you're allowed to pick two?" Sirius asked, arching one eyebrow teasingly. "A bit greedy, isn't it?"
"I've known I've loved you since we were 13, Sirius. After having waited seven years I think I'm allowed to pick two!" Remus said and couldn't stop an eyeroll.
"Seven years!?" Sirius's eyes threatened to pop out of their sockets. "You've been in love with me for seven years and never so much as mentioned it to me until now?"
"Oh, come off it, don't act so surprised," Remus said. "It wasn't easy for you to say you liked me even this morning and by then you must've already had a pretty good understanding on where I stood on the matter. I was scared shitless it was gonna cock everything up if I told you and you wouldn't feel the same, so no, I never mentioned it to you. I reckoned that I'd rather be unrequitedly in love with you but still have you as a friend than tell you at the risk of losing you all together."
That explanation made perfect sense to Sirius, and even though he hated to admit it, Remus was probably right. If he'd become aware of Remus's feeling for him too soon it could have cocked up a lot, even if Sirius really wished that wasn't true.
"Well, you told me eventually. That's all that matters to me, really." Sirius leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. "Would you let me try to make up for lost time, at least? I mean seven years is a long time. You deserve some compensation, I reckon."
"What sort of compensation did you have in mind?" Remus asked, leaning in a little closer as well.
"Of the top of my mind… This." Sirius wasn't talking to Remus anymore, but more accurately addressing his lips. Sirius closed the gap between them as he captured Remus's lips with his own. His hand found the back of Remus's head and pulled him closer. He felt Remus's hands running up his arms to wrap around his neck and a small moan escaped. Sirius wasn't sure which one of them it came from; could have been either, or both. But that didn't really matter at the moment. What did matter, however, was that this was undisputedly the best kiss Sirius had ever had. Not due to technique, necessarily, as that was honestly sub par, but give them a few more goes and they'd nail it for sure, Sirius wasn't the least bit worried about that. No, this was the best kiss of Sirius's life because even though it was the first they shared it was already familiar. Sirius only reluctantly pulled away from the kiss because he needed to ask Remus a very important question.
"So, are you staying?" he asked, his hands still at the back of Remus's head playing with his hair.
"What?" Remus laughed. "Of course I am, you git. You broke the kiss to ask me that?"
"It's an important question, isn't it?" Sirius grinned. "How long?"
Remus searched Sirius's eyes for a hint of what he should answer, but didn't seem to find a clear enough answer.
"What do you want me to say to that?" Remus asked.
"I want you to tell me you'll stay here with me indefinitely," Sirius said, letting his hands run down Remus's neck and arms.
"Alright, I'll stay with you indefinitely, then," Remus said, beaming at Sirius.
"Excellent," Sirius stood up, holding out his hand for Remus to take. "Come on."
"Where are we going?" Remus asked, but accepted the hand and Sirius pulled him up.
"You still haven't gotten to take that shower since I spit tea in your hair, and I've just thought of at least eleven different ways I could make it up to you in there," Sirius said, leading them towards the bathroom.
"Are all of them sexual?" Remus asked, clearly amused.
"Yes, but if you wanna count the non-sexual ones I have 23 ways of making it up to you. It might take more than one shower." Sirius stopped in front of the door leading into the bathroom, pushing Remus gently against it.
"Well, lucky thing for you I've got nowhere else to be right now," Remus said, embracing Sirius and pulling him into a deep kiss.
… The End …